Pavel: There is a consensus that membership in the EU and NATO is a guarantee of security

Prague – President Petr Pavel said after today’s series of meetings with leaders of parliamentary parties that there is a consensus that Czech membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union is currently the best guarantee of security and prosperity. He stated this at a press conference. Everyone, including the opposition, agreed, according to the head of state, that security is viewed comprehensively and that the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine will clearly affect the security of the Czech Republic.

Party and movement leaders approached the discussions constructively; the debate was characterized by an exchange of opinions rather than mere declarations, Pavel said. He gradually met with the leaders of the Pirates, SPD, STAN, ANO, and the coalition parties Together, namely ODS, KDU-ČSL, and TOP 09. The president noted that his goal was not to discourage politicians from emphasizing the topic of security before the parliamentary elections, but from using it to divide society.

Pavel stated that he perceives the firm anchoring in the EU and NATO as the cornerstones of the security of the Czech Republic. He also discussed with party leaders the approach to increasing security, whether by raising defense spending or by paying attention to the preparedness of the state, its institutions, and citizens for potential crises.

Pavel also remarked that the manner in which the war in Ukraine ends will clearly affect the security of the Czech Republic for years, possibly decades to come, as well as the state of the whole of Europe. The fact that individual parties differ in their approach to how much to support Ukraine is, according to the head of state, also legitimate. “But none of them questions that the outcome of the war will have an impact on us and that it is necessary to do everything possible to ensure that peace negotiations lead to a quick result, even at the cost of some compromises,” he added.

According to Pavel, none of the parties also questioned that greater spending on security is necessary, although they may have different views on the approach to increasing defense spending. “Some parties place greater emphasis on the fact that higher spending should be accompanied by greater efficiency and transparency, which is absolutely fine,” the president noted. He also mentioned a proposal for the establishment of something like a national defense fund. “It would cover, in certain years when there are higher demands, those higher expenses, but it would not be necessary to have data linearly at a certain percentage, but that is already a matter of technical solutions,” he remarked. (May 15)